Topple The Towers

August 15, 1989

Now that the battle over the York River bridge has died down, residents of York and Gloucester counties have another crossing to worry about. This time it's a proposal by Virginia Power to build about a dozen steel towers across the river to improve electrical service to Gloucester.

Right now that's all it is, just a proposal that the utility has offered up for public comment. And the response has been stinging. Boards of supervisors in both counties have registered unanimous opposition and the military has expressed concerns, too.

The electrical towers, similar to those that run next to the James River Bridge, would be just another obstruction in a river where aesthetics and navigation are important concerns. Yorktown, which is trying to revitalize its waterfront for new business, doesn't need the added attraction. The daily traffic backups, the steel girders of the Coleman Bridge and the Virginia Power smokestack are quite enough. The bridge gives Navy ships plenty to contend with without having to avoid towers. And power lines are a constant threat to helicopters and small aircraft.

The alternative to the towers, running the cable under water, is almost five times as expensive as the $4 million that the towers would cost. That's one reason Virginia Power has raised the issue, to sample public opinion and to see whether customers would be willing to pay about $15 million more to keep the cable out of sight.

Even if burying the cable is more costly, it's certainly preferable to adding permanent eyesores and obstructions in the York River.